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Stuff Office Cat’s Diary – 11/03/13

Fridges that look like guitar amps and iPhone prototypes that look dreadfully large – it's Cat time once more

11 March 2013/15:31GMT

The iPhone is among the smaller smartphones available, but it might not have always turned out that way. Images of an early iPhone prototype from 2005 (two years before the iPhone was launched) have been published online, showing a device two inches thick with a 5in x 7in screen. It also had USB, serial and Ethernet ports, although these were included for development purposes and weren’t ever intended for the final version. Ars Technica’s source (who used to work at Apple but declined to be named), revealed that while the prototype looks huge by current phone standards, it was an impressive sight at the time due to its ability to run a version of OS X.

2005 prototype iPhone was enormous

The long-awaited SimCity reboot arrived last week, but rather than getting stuck in to town planning, many PC gamers found themselves swearing at their screens as publisher EA’s server problems left them unable to load save games, play the game at full speed and in many case play the game at all. Even if you’re playing in regular single player mode, SimCity requires an Internet connection AT ALL TIMES (Office Cat realises how ridiculous this sounds, so here it is again: AT ALL TIMES), and EA’s servers weren’t equipped for the sheer number of gamers trying to log on. EA has apologised for the shambles, doubled the number of servers and promised everyone who bought SimCity a free PC game by way of compensation. Which is nice, but not as nice as releasing a game that didn’t require an Internet connection AT ALL TIMES would have been. Sigh.

A new edition of the Apple TV is now available, and a teardown has revealed that, like its predecessor from 2011, it uses an A5 processor. While that might sound like a disappointment (why no A5X chip?), there is a difference: the new chip is smaller and die-shrunk, which should spell lower power consumption and heat without compromising on performance.

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EA apologises for SimCity launch fiasco

Amplifier maker Marshall is no stranger to making non-amplifier gear, so Office Cat isn’t entirely surprised to see the company unveil its first fridge. Given Marshall’s rock and roll heritage, it’s an entirely appropriate that it’s served up something for keeping musicians’ favourites such as beer, vodka and (for Coldplay) San Pellegrino mineral water nice and chilled. In fact, the 4.4 cubic feet fridge has already found favour with beer fan and former Guns N Roses guitarist Slash, who has taken one on tour with him. It’ll be available from April, for £400.